Plant Flowers, Make Friends

Sometime within the last seven years (the age of my oldest) I took interest in gardening.  I have two children and not a lot of spare time so my efforts are semi-minimal at this point.  In my dream garden I saw lots of tall flowers and stone paths.  In real life we took our old raised vegetable garden, with the old picket white fence, and turned it into an herb garden!  It's simple but it's thriving and walking out to see it every day gives me this sense of calm, of accomplishment, of connecting with nature.  Most of my garden subjects came from plants purchased at our local Ace.  A few I grew from seed.  

Bee Balm

I have an existing bee balm spread that was planted two years ago from Lowe's.  I got this little plant in a small pot one summer.  The next summer it expanded and is now HUGE!  It was incredible.  True to its name, the bees (as well as butterflies and other bugs) adore it.  It makes me happy.

My new friends

Someday it would be wonderful to know what to do with each of these - medicinally and culinary speaking.  When you have a family you can have lots of goals and dreams but time is still limited to 24 hours in a day and filled with life stuff.  Also I love to sleep.  In the midst of it all, I find having hobbies keeps me sane.  I walk, read, do puzzles, hike, bike, draw, paint, and garden.  None of it I do exceptionally well (except for walking, I've had many years of practice there) but still I try to show up when I can.  That pesky internet sucks me in sometimes too.  Anyone else?  Pinterest.  Random research.  Emails galore.

Sage, thyme, basil, parsley, coriander, lavender,
lemon grass, sweet mint, peppermint

Enjoy those plants whether they are in your yard or someone else's.  They are miracles.

Harvested bee balm